Reply #3: It's happened before.

[Another Bill C.]

When I was young, every male had an eight-year military obligation unless he was exempted as a student or for physical reasons. This reduced the general labor pool and, subsequently, unemployment.

It wasn't exactly fair. Except for "teacher's college" a college education was out of the question for those whose means were less than "comfortable." Wealthier parents could keep their sons out of the military by keeping them in college until they were past the ages that were being drafted at the time (usually 19- to 21-year-olds during peacetime).

Later, the lottery system was introduced to make the draft system a little more fair. I'm not sure how fair it was because I had completed my service time by then.